The Navvy Wars of 1846

The building of ‘Lancaster and Carlisle Railway’ over Shap in the 1840s, now the West Coast mainline, was delayed by geography and weather, but also by labour problems. Not between management and employees, but between the men building the line. It led to what became known as ‘The Navvy Wars’.

Pay

The English accused the Irish of working for less and so undercutting their wages. This was a frequent complaint on all railway projects. And it had been the same when the canals were being built 50 years earlier.

North of Penrith the labouring gangs were predominantly Irish: south of the Town they were mainly English. The two sides had already clashed in a series of riots in November 1845. Special Constables had been sworn in at Penrith then. It was also feared that the men building the Caledonian Railway at Lockerbie and Ecclefechan would join in and a company of the 89th Regiment of Foot at Carlisle had been summoned to keep the peace.

January 1846

Matters came to a head again on Monday 9 January 1846 when a drunken English foreman sacked an Irish labourer near Penrith. The English then ran the Irish off the job and destroyed many of their huts near the work site. This led to women and children being thrown out in to the winter night. The following evening 500 Irish labourers tramped south along the unfinished railway line with the publicly announced objective of destroying the English navvy’s camp at Yanwith. The Penrith magistrates, led by Mr Hasell of Dalemain House, tried to calm the Irish, whilst alerting the English at Yanwith to the threat to their camp. When the Irish arrived the Yanwith camp was empty. Surprisingly it was left undamaged.

Murder

However, the dispute escalated next day, when a horde of English navvies reinforced by men from Kendal and Shap - 2,000 in all - destroyed the Irish settlement at Plumpton. With things now getting out of hand, the Yeomanry were called for. The Plumpton camp was deserted, but the English came across a small group at Kettleside Bridge on the road to Plumpton. They left one man for dead. A lodging house in Penrith, home to 12 Irish labourers was attacked. The men pulled out and beaten. The Carlisle Patriot described that they

“Were pulled out one by one from their hiding places and beaten violently with bludgeons &tc such to such an extent that the lives of many were despaired of and all the very dangerous state”.

Disaster averted

On Thursday a large group of Irish labourers tried to reach Penrith and it was feared that English navies were planning to meet them in the town to settle their differences. The Yeomanry were now posted on the roads into Penrith to keep the two sides apart. Facing the Irish was also a magistrate who told the angry crowd that the Yeomanry were there to prevent bloodshed and that other men had been posted to stop the English entering the Town. They were also accompanied by a local well-respected Roman Catholic Priest.

The English and Irish dispersed peacefully. Fighting was averted. Calm, sensible diplomacy, backed by force won the day. After a week the Yeomanry were stood down.

The Editor